Referee

This year Surrey Rugby has launched the Surrey Referees Group for all club referees.

In recent years Surrey Rugby has become aware that there is little or no training and support for non society referees attached to clubs. These referees are responsible for almost half of the match officiating within Surrey, and with this in mind we have decided to act.

The Surrey Referees Group, which will work in partnership with the London Society of Rugby Football Union Referees (LSRFUR), will have the following Terms of Reference:

To give non society referees an identity within the Surrey Rugby community and to support and provide training and development. The group will also identify those referees with potential and encourage them to continue their development through the London Society.

Initially this group will be directed at clubs but it is hoped that it will extend to schools and HE/ FE.

All referees who have successfully undergone ELRA stages 1 and 2, and who are members of a Surrey club will automatically be eligible to become a Surrey Referee as will all existing club referees.

Club Referee Coordinators

Surrey clubs which have a mini/ youth section must have a Club Referee Coordinator (CRefC).

This role is of paramount importance to the success of this group. At present in some clubs, the Club Coaching Coordinator (CCC) and the Club Referee Coordinator are the same person but these two roles must now be filled by appropriately trained persons. The CRefC must be an experienced referee and will have undergone a Surrey CRefC accreditation awareness day, or will have been briefed by their cluster manager. The CRefC will be responsible for the referee accreditation process within the club.

Surrey clubs which have a mini/ youth section will be split into clusters in line with Surrey Club Development Cluster Groups, and each cluster will have a Cluster Referee Manager (CRM) who will be an experienced referee. The four Cluster Referee Managers have been appointed by Surrey Rugby.

All new and existing club referees will be assessed by the CRefC and those who meet the criteria will be accredited. All Club Referees will need to go through this process unless exempt.

Exemptions will include a referee who is active in a referee society. An active society referee is defined as being active for one year since joining a referee society or who has been promoted one full level, or if the referee is graded at level 10 or above.

A CRefC will accredit a referee when they are sure that the referee is:

Safe

Has an understanding of the game, and

Has a good knowledge of the laws

The accreditation process has been designed to make sure that all Club Referees are competent. The CRefC will be responsible to ensure that all referees within the club receive support and further training if required.

When a referee has been accredited by his/ her CRefC they will be given a Surrey Referees Group shirt. This shirt must be worn when refereeing club festivals, and/ or Surrey Youth League matches (Under 13, 14, 15 and 16B).

This group will also provide referees for the Surrey mini/ midi festivals in April of each year and will cover the under 10, under 11 and under 12 age groups. They may also provide referee cover for any other club mini/ midi festival.

The Surrey Rugby Referee Training Manager will prepare a training schedule for the year to be delivered to all accredited referees. These training sessions will be delivered within each cluster by experienced society trainers as appointed and directed by the Surrey Rugby Referee Training Manager. A training record will be maintained by each CRM.

All CRefC's are asked to start accrediting their referees, complete the club registration form and then send to their cluster managers. Surrey Referee shirts and Surrey socks will be issued to each accredited referee.